News Release
U.S. Department of Justice
Peter F. Neronha
United States Attorney
District of Rhode Island

January 12, 2012

Rhode Island Jewelry Store Owner Sentenced for Filing a False Tax Return

 

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A federal district court judge in Providence, R.I., has sentenced the owner of a Newport, R.I., jewelry store to three years probation and fined her $15,000 for willfully filing a false individual tax return, the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today.

Karen St. Pierre of Barrington, R.I., owner and operator of the House of Windsor, was also ordered by U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. to pay restitution to the IRS, including full payment of income taxes, penalties, and interest owed. The full amount has not been determined.

At the time of her guilty plea in October 2011, St. Pierre admitted to the court that in 2004, the House of Windsor generated approximately $632,522 in gross receipts.  St. Pierre admitted that on April 15, 2005, she filed a false individual income tax return that reported, in part, that the gross receipts generated by the store were only $281,780.  As a result of this material false statement, St. Pierre failed to pay approximately $64,595 in taxes. 
           
The case was prosecuted by Tax Division Trial Attorneys Tiwana L. Wright and Andrew P. Young. The matter was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.

More information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/tax.

Contact: 401-709-5357
USARI.Media@usdoj.gov